


On Swift Wings

by Geonn



Category: Sanctuary (TV)
Genre: 1920s, Curses, Egyptology, F/M, Tutankhamen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-06-04
Updated: 2011-06-04
Packaged: 2017-10-20 02:40:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/207897
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geonn/pseuds/Geonn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Helen and Nikola must work together to stop an apparent curse affecting the Howard Carter expedition.</p>
            </blockquote>





	On Swift Wings

  
_"Death shall come on swift wings to him who disturbs the peace of the King."_   


_November 26, 1922,_  
"Water, please."

Helen lowered her head and closed her eyes. "You do realize there is a finite supply of water in this camp?" Regardless, she picked up her canteen and passed it to Nikola. He was sitting on a stone nearby, wearing dark goggles with a scarf tied around his lower face. A pith helmet was pulled low on his forehead, and he was wearing the lightest shirt that still left his arms completely covered. "You're being completely childish."

"There is some truth to the myths, you know that. Vampires may not spontaneously burst into flame upon stepping into the sun, but we do not like it." He pulled down the scarf to take a long swallow from the canteen and sighed happily after he swallowed. "No one on the planet should like this sort of heat. I swear, this entire area should be barren wasteland. Forests and mountains and rivers. That is where humanity thrives."

"Civilization thrived here for hundreds of years, Nikola."

"Yes, along the fertile crescent of the Nile." He handed the canteen back to Helen, who shook it to confirm it was nearly empty. She sighed and dropped it to the rock beside her. "Even your man James Watson was wise enough to remain in England."

Helen blushed and hoped she could put it off to the sunburn. "James is hardly 'my man.'"

"Yes, he's simply chosen to work for you for... what, the past three decades? I'm sure it was purely for professional reasons."

Nikola's smile was prurient enough that Helen looked away from him. They were standing on the edge of camp, far enough away from the other members of the expedition that they could speak freely without lowering their voices.

"James is my friend. And I didn't have to go through all that trouble getting you permission to join me here. I could have left you sulking in England and simply reported back what I found. Your presence here is due to your incessant whining and pleading. If only I'd known the whining would continue once we were here--"

"Well, look at it!" Nikola stood and swept his arm to encompass the expedition. "The Valley of the Kings, one of the first great human empires after my people were done away with. Pharaohs and pyramids, celebrating the banishment of the greatest race this world has ever known." He turned and smiled at her. "And now, we get to see what treasures they left behind. Who knows? Perhaps there will be hieroglyphics describing the reigns of some of my more esteemed ancestors."

Helen rolled her eyes. "The greatest discovery of the twentieth century to date, but why not make it all about you?"

Nikola pointed at her. "Exactly. Now..." His attention was diverted by movement in the group of archaeologists near the dig. "I wonder what all the fuss is about."

Helen watched as Howard Carter broke away from his group and started moving across the sand at a determined pace. Helen rose from where she'd been sitting, closing the book of notes she had been filling out in the hopes it would organize her thoughts. She tucked the book into her pack, slung the strap over her shoulder, and hurried own the slope. "Come on," she said, almost as an afterthought as Nikola followed her.

Lady Evelyn Herbert was hurrying across the sand behind her father and Carter. Helen fell into step beside her. As the two highest profile women on the dig, they had spent a great deal of time together since Helen's arrival in Egypt. Evie was a pale woman with a long, slender neck and dark hair that was cut short. When Helen first saw her, she thought she was a drab and morose figure, but the woman's effervescence made itself clear quickly after she found a co-conspirator in Helen.

"I've spent far too much time on my own, dragged along to these horridly dry excavations with my father and four dozen men," she had said the first time she invited Helen to dinner. "It shall be nice to have some female companionship for a change."

Now Evie turned and smiled when she saw who her companion was. She was trotting along with an odd gait, holding her hat in place with one hand while holding her skirts up with the other. Helen had bucked tradition by wearing an outfit identical to their male counterparts, the difference being she couldn't simply strip off a layer when it got too hot.

"Helen!" She reached out and wrapped one arm around Helen's, abandoning her hat to the winds. "It's all quite exciting, isn't it?

"I couldn't say. What's all the fuss?"

Evie's eyes sparkled. "A water carrier tripped. Over there."

Helen glanced back at Nikola. "And?"

Lady Evelyn winked and gave a theatrical shrug. "Your guess is as good as mine." They reached the spot where the carrier had apparently tripped and Carter pointed insistently at the sand. Nikola and several others dropped and began brushing sand away from carved stone steps.

Carter and Lord Carnarvon continued higher on the slope, and Helen suddenly saw what everyone had missed up to that point. "Dear God. Nikola..."

Carter was like a man possessed. He used his unexpectedly dainty hands like shovels, quickly digging out a recess in the dune. Helen, Nikola, and many others joined him until a door was clearly visible. Helen's heart pounded as Carter made a tiny breach in the top left-hand corner of the doorway. "A candle... a candle!"

In the full light of day, no one was carrying a candle. Nikola withdrew a rag from his pocket, twisted the end into a fuse, and lit it aflame with a puff of electricity produced by snapping his fingers. No one saw his feat, and he handed the rag to Carter.

Lord Carnarvon, red-faced from the exertion of digging away the sand, rested with his hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Everyone waited, holding their breath in anticipation as Carter turned his head first one way and then the other. Finally, Carnarvon could contain himself no longer. "Can you see anything?"

Carter's voice was trembling. He turned, his lips spread into a wide smile and his eyes shining with an almost manic energy. "There are some marvelous objects here."

Helen and Nikola looked at one another and smiled.

#

Max stopped on the front steps and withdrew a rag from the pocket of his shirt. He was sweating rivers, each drop plummeting to the sand to evaporate almost immediately. He didn't do well in the heat, but for the opportunity to work with Howard Carter and to be present when the tomb of Tutankhamen was discovered? He would suffer a year of hundred-degree temperatures for that. He reached for the door and was startled to hear what sounded like a human cry from within. He pushed inside without announcing himself. Carter was at the dig, and anyone else inside would have been trespassing. He took out the small knife he kept in his boot as he looked around for the source of the call.

There was no human intruder, but Max's blood ran cold as he stepped forward. A gilded birdcage hung near the window, still swinging from what had occurred within. The canary was gone, a few of its feathers still drifting toward the ground. Curled in the center of the cage was a cobra, its head fully extended to stare at Max.

Max had never believed in curses, but he felt his heart skip a beat as he stared at the symbol for Egyptian royalty inside of Howard Carter's house. The message could not have been clearer.

Trespassers would be punished.

 _Five months later,_  
The last time Helen had truly felt clean was in London, the day she departed for this journey. Now, even immediately following a bath, her skin felt grimy and in desperate need of a scrubbing. It was well worth her discomfort, however, to be present for such a tremendous discovery. Each day was spent within the surprisingly cool confines of the tomb, examining the hieroglyphs on the antechamber while Carter and the others explored farther. Nikola was helping with the removal of rubble, his increased strength revealed to be a godsend. Several times he had strolled past Helen, carrying a rock that would have crippled mortal men, his bulging muscles revealed by the sweat-soaked tank top he chose to wear.

Helen knew he was simply showing off for her, and she was embarrassed to admit it was working. She had left the tomb shortly after sundown, when cataloguing the antechamber was difficult even by torchlight, and returned to her tent just outside of the dig to wash up. It was more than the pup tents she was accustomed to using in the field; she had gotten an actual four-walled white tent with a pointed roof, with more than enough room for a cot and a small desk. Most of the expedition members had hotel rooms, but many of them were choosing to sleep at the site so they wouldn't have to waste valuable time commuting.

But what she wouldn't give for a true bathroom, with a tub and soaps...

"Helen..."

"Stay outside, Nikola. I'm not decent." She picked up her robe and wrapped it around herself, the water from her sponge bath already feeling like a film upon her skin. She stepped into her sandals and ducked through the opening of the tent. Nikola's eyes traveled down, to her exposed cleavage and the strip of thigh revealed by her robe. She cinched the robe tighter and snapped her fingers, lips set in a frustrated line.

"Yes." He cleared his throat. "Howard Carter just received an urgent message from Cairo."

From his expression, the news was anything but good. "What happened?"

"Lord Carnarvon is dead. Apparently from a mosquito bite."

Helen's skin became cold despite the heat that still lingered in the night air. "The poor man. His poor daughter. Where is Evie?"

"On her way to Luxor with Carter, to wire the authorities. The manner of Lord Carnarvon's death will, I'm afraid, only substantiate some of the rumors that have been circling around the site for the past few months."

"A curse."

Nikola nodded and looked toward the dig site. The area was lit by electric lamps that Nikola had helped set up, making them far stronger than they had any right to be. The unnatural light cast a supernatural yellow glow over the dunes of the valley. Nikola slipped his hands into his pockets as he observed it, not even bothering to look over when the wind picked up the tails of Helen's robe and threatened to expose her. She smoothed it down with a hand, her mind still racing. The workers who had become ill, kept from the press to prevent a panic, the cobra in Carter's home, and now Lord Carnarvon was dead under unusual circumstances.

"It would appear your theory was correct, Helen. You didn't waste a trip after all."

"I wish to God I'd been wrong, Nikola. The elementals entombed with Tutankhamen have been entrusted with his protection. They've been waiting a very long time for someone to violate his final resting place. They will not be placated easily."

Nikola remained silent, and Helen didn't blame him for his reticence. When it came to the wrath of ancient elementals, even a vampire and a woman granted longevity by the Source blood wouldn't be saved from their vengeance.

#

James Watson rubbed his forehead with his free hand, the fingers of his other hand splayed across the spine of the book. He was moving stiffly, the latest prototype of his device proving to be less than stellar. He ignored the pain in his joints as he carried the book toward the light. The telegram from Helen and Nikola had been more than enough to make sleep impossible for him that night. He lowered himself gingerly into a chair and thumbed through the book.

It had been almost exactly two years ago when Helen sat in this very chair, pointed at this book, and told him that Howard Carter was making a grave mistake. The book contained vague translations that Helen believed pointed toward truly powerful elementals present during Tut's rule, which would have been placed in the tomb with him. Helen feared that Carter breaching the tomb would have dire consequences if the elementals were released.

Now it appeared her worries were coming to fruition. Illness and death were haunting the expedition. Before she left, Helen had identified the elementals she believed were closed off in the tomb, so James hoped he could find a way to contain them in the books. Unfortunately dealing with information from Egypt's Eighth dynasty was hardly very enlightening.

He picked up his tea, frowning when he noticed it was empty, and put the book aside. The windows of his office were pale gold with reflected candlelight, but from certain angles he could still look out onto the city. He paused and looked toward the south, imagining Helen and Nikola so far away on the other continent.

James touched the dial on his device, choosing to believe the pangs in his chest were a result of a malfunction and not sheer jealousy. He liked to believe he was smart enough to be above jealousy, to realize that if he and Helen hadn't become romantically involved in the past thirty years then it was not likely to happen. But she was only just starting to mend after John broke her heart. She was just beginning to trust again. He didn't want Nikola Tesla destroying all the hard work she had done for some meaningless fling in the desert.

Not to mention his own mistake, a sin committed on a train car leaving Russia after a particularly dire mission. He pushed the memory aside and focused on Helen's current predicament.

If only he could find a way to join them in the Valley of the Kings. Even if he could conjure up John and teleport there immediately, it would be unwise. It was all he could do to move around the Sanctuary, let alone out in the field. Not to mention that the thought of getting sand into the fragile cogs and dials of his device made his heart drum faster and made his skin clammy. He tried to take a drink from the empty tea cup in his hand, muttered a curse, and lurched through the door to the stairs.

#

White tents had been set up all around the entrance to the tomb, and expedition members mingled with various esteemed guests who were there to just get a glimpse of the historic find. Nikola had gained a reputation as a strong man, so no one questioned his decision to enter the tomb on the pretense of moving a few more stones. Down the steps and through the passage, Helen could almost feel the age of the stone all around them. The antechamber felt familiar after all these months of work, but even that had an awe-inspiring feel of antiquity.

To the left was an extra annex of treasures, and the entrance to the Golden Shrine was to their right. Helen went directly to the hieroglyphics and began scanning them for any mention of the elementals left behind to protect the boy king. Nikola moved his lamp over the far wall of the cavern. "So what exactly is our plan?"

"Identify the elementals and, hopefully, deduce a way to stop them before anyone else dies."

"I may not be as adept in the world of Abnormals as you and James, but aren't elementals - by very definition - a bit hard to kill?"

Helen shook her head. "I never said kill. I said stop them."

Nikola arched an eyebrow. "They've been protecting this tomb for nearly three thousand years, Helen. I doubt they'll stop just because you asked nicely."

"It never hurts to ask." Helen pointed at one of the drawings. "Here. This shows Tutankhamen being delivered to his final resting place by his servants. Look above his body."

Nikola shined his lamp onto the wall. "I see curly lines."

"A breeze. A wind elemental."

"Oh, good. We'll just have to fight _wind_. Here I was thinking it would be difficult."

Helen faced him. "A wind elemental has the ability to get inside a person's head. They can cause hallucinations, panic attacks, fog a person's mind so they become easily suggestible... even without that, they can highly unpredictable. I'm assuming it was the elemental that guided the mosquito to poor Lord Carnarvon's cheek."

"Yes, I'd hate to attempt driving out of here only to get caught up in a malevolent windstorm." He moved across the tomb again, shining his light on random hieroglyphs. "Can we just lure it back here? Put the genie back in the bottle, as it were?"

"Afraid not. The damage has been done, was done the moment Howard Carter breached the doorway. It's no longer about protecting the king, it's about enacting revenge on those who would sully his tomb."

"Why?" Helen looked at him and Nikola held his hands out. "These elementals are erratic beings, they cannot be contained. And yet this one was contained. How did the Egyptians convince it to be locked into a stone vault for three thousand years to protect little Tutankhamen's withered corpse?"

"That's an excellent question. Some believed followers of Amun looked kindly on him because he restored their god to his rightful place as deity. He lifted the ban on their religion. Perhaps the god Amun was really this wind elemental, and it offered to protect Tutankhamen into the afterlife as a way of showing gratitude."

"Elementals can show gratitude?"

Helen held her hands out helplessly. "It's only a theory."

"Yes, 'thank you for restoring my place as a deity and telling everyone to worship me. I'll celebrate by letting you lock me in this box for the rest of eternity.' That doesn't sound very godlike."

"I'm all too aware of what sort of god you would be."

His smile was radiant in the darkness. "Benevolent and caring of my followers?"

Helen snorted. "We're not likely to find many answers here. I'll wire James in the morning and see if he's found anything helpful in the library."

"Good old reliable James."

"Stop it." Helen heard voices near the steps leading down into the tomb. "We should also tell Carter about what we've discovered. We're all targets, but I believe the elemental will focus on him next." She left the antechamber and went down the passageway to the entrance. She squinted as she went from shadows to sun, holding up one hand to protect her eyes as she emerged on the surface once more.

Nikola came up behind her, frowning at his hands as he tried to brush off his fingers. "No matter how little time I spend down there, I always come back covered with dust and dirt."

Helen's gaze was fixed on the horizon. "Nikola... look, there."

He followed her finger. The rest of the group was preoccupied with examining treasures already brought up, recreations of the hieroglyphs, and new repetitions of how the tomb had been uncovered. No one saw the uninvited guests on the outer edges of the camp. Two jackals, identical to the Anubis guards standing watch over the tomb, were gazing toward the group with intense stares.

"They were drawn by all the activity," Nikola said, his voice soft as he watched the animals. Helen couldn't tell if he was explaining it to her or trying to convince himself that it was just a coincidence. She knew that she'd never seen jackals in this area, but she'd hardly been in Egypt as long as some of their companions.

One of the jackals stood up and stretched, its ears pointing straight up like horns as it turned to its companion. If they made a sound, it faded before reaching Helen's ears. They both decided to leave at the same time, trotting along the edge of the dune before they turned and disappeared out of sight.

"Strange days in the desert," Nikola muttered.

"Indeed. Come on. We need to talk to Carter about this as soon as possible."

Nikola nodded, but he was still looking toward the horizon as if waiting for the jackals to reappear. Finally he brushed off his hands once more and followed Helen away from the cursed tomb.

#

Howard Carter leaned back in his chair, his middle finger along his bottom lip while the forefinger stroked his mustache. He was a slender man, a pair of bifocals perched on his beak of a nose. His clothes had suffered a pounding from his time in the desert, though his hair was impeccably combed. Helen and Nikola had just finished explaining the situation to him, telling him their take on the tomb's so-called curse. He had no reason to doubt what they were saying; a curse was bad press, and any reasonably logical explanation would be grasped with both hands.

But to call their explanation reasonably logical would be a stretch. And their presence on the expedition was all but demanded by Pierre Lacau, something Carter was most likely still stung by. Helen hated using her contacts to muscle in like this, but desperate measures were sometimes necessary. Carter was never anything but kind to both her and Nikola, but she couldn't help but wish their introduction had been different.

Carter finally took a deep breath, his broad shoulders rolling as he leaned back against his chair. "Well, that is certainly... fanciful."

"I assure you, it is the truth."

"I could either take your word for that, madam, or I could choose to believe that ancient Egyptians put an evil eye on us from three thousand years in the past." He made a steeple with his fingers and stared at a spot between Helen and Nikola. "You two... aren't exactly what you seem. Are you?"

Helen glanced at Nikola. He was busy examining the plates on Carter's desk. He looked up like a man disturbed from a long nap. He smiled and began to speak.

"To be fair, Mr. Carter, you're not exactly an open book yourself." Nikola stepped forward, his lips curling into a slow smile. He leveled a finger at Carter, and Helen knew from experience how hard it was to break that hold. "It took me a while to figure it out, but I think I've finally got it. Why it took you so long to find Tut's tomb if my theory was correct. You were trying to act the part, but you played it too well. You couldn't just waltz into the desert and find something that's been hidden for three millennia. You had to make it look good. So when Carnarvon threatened to cut your funding and pull you out of here, you panicked. You realized you had a finite amount of time to find the tomb. When the water carrier tripped over something, that was your explanation. That was how you made it look good. You've known where Tut's tomb was all along."

"Are you finished?"

Nikola tugged on the collar of his shirt. "Yes, I believe I--"

"You're wrong. But I have seen enough odd things on expeditions that I won't dismiss your theories out of hand. You say this..." He waved his hand in the air. "The wind elemental thing is directly affecting us. So if I stay away from it--"

"It's far too late for that, Mr. Carter. The elemental has marked everyone who stepped into the tomb; you, me, Nikola, Lady Evelyn. We're all in danger. It can find us wherever we go."

"Then I see no reason to abandon the dig." He stood up and brushed the sand from his trousers. "I trust the two of you have the situation well in hand. If you need any concessions from others on the expedition, then you need but ask. I assure you the full cooperation of everyone working under me." He smiled as he held his hand out to Helen. "Try to keep me alive, madam. That's all I can ask of you."

"Either you'll live or all three of us will be dead."

Howard Carter laughed and slapped Nikola on the shoulder. "That's the spirit. Now, I don't want to toss you out, but tomorrow is a rather big day, as are they all. I'm sure you understand."

"Yes. Thank you for listening to us with such an open mind."

They stepped out into the twilight and Helen smiled to see Nikola was still sulking. She rubbed his shoulder. "Come now. It was a good theory."

Nikola pointed back at the tent. "That man is hiding something. Mark my words."

Helen nodded, her lips pressed together in a patronizing smile. Nikola made a noise of irritation, threw his hands in the air, and stormed off. Helen's laughter trailed behind her as she followed him back toward their tents.

#

James carefully read over the message Helen had wired him, then examined the books he had brought down to the library on a rolling cart. In the past, they had encountered elementals of wind, fire and water. It stood to reason there was an earth elemental as well, but so far they had been fortunate. Gregory Magnus had left detailed notes of references to elementals, which he considered one of the most dangerous types of Abnormal in existence.

The Great Fire of 1666 was caused by a fire elemental until it was contained by persons unknown, leaving the civilian authorities to deal with the repercussions. Seattle in 1889 suffered the same fate; it had been among the first tasks undertaken by their little group of do-gooders. John had teleported them in, a mistake that resulted in all five of them landing in a pond and becoming drenched. He smiled at the memory, and recalled how they had drawn the elemental into a glass container using air pressure from a machine Nikola fashioned on the fly from a design James and Helen had drawn up. Poor Nigel had sulked for a week at having nothing to offer the mission, but he more than made up for it the next time.

James pondered the way they had captured the fire elemental. That had been relatively easy, since the elemental was visible. How could one hope to see, let alone contain, a creature made entirely of wind? The impossibility of it was what made Nigel so good at what he did. One cannot capture that which they cannot see.

Capturing the wind... there was something almost poetic about the prospect, and he drew his index finger across his lip as he considered it. If anyone could make that happen, he believed it would be Helen Magnus. He again regretted his decision to stay behind, his decision to not use an injection of Helen's blood rather than using his device to prolong his life. Of course he had made the right decision. Immortality was as much a curse as it was a blessing, but what he wouldn't give to be as vital as he'd been when they were at Oxford.

He sighed. There was no sense in pondering might-have-beens; Helen was waiting for a response. He picked up his pencil and began to write

#

The following afternoon, Helen had retired to her tent. She'd already been to Luxor and back to wire James, taking a leisurely breakfast while she waited for his response. She was grateful to return to all-business with him, exchanging ideas on how to deal with an Abnormal or how to proceed on a mission. Things had been awkward for them since they returned from Russia, due entirely to Helen letting down her guard and an ill-advised kiss on a train. That was part of the reason she was in Egypt with Nikola, hiding in the middle of nowhere with a sea of sand all around her.

She had his description of an appropriate containment vessel to meet her requirements; all that remained was to find a way to make them feasible. She was pondering James' suggestions when someone said, "Yoo-hoo," from just outside the tent door. There was no need to ask who it was, since there was only one other woman currently on the expedition. Helen stood up and opened the front flap of her tent, smiling when she saw Evie Herbert standing under the awning that covered the entrance. She was dressed in a cream-colored jacket and a flowing skirt that left only the tips of her shoes exposed. She held a wooden box against her stomach with one hand.

Evie gestured at the tent. "The worst thing about staying in these silly tents is there's no place to knock."

"'Yoo-hoo' works fine. How are you, Evie?"

A cloud passed over Evie's face, obviously thinking about her father's recent death. "A bit burnt out on men and their toys, to be quite frank. Do you know your friend Nikola is going around asking everyone for their plates?"

Helen looked past Evie to the rest of the tents, as if she would catch him in the act. "He's stealing their food?"

"No, just their empty plates. And half the time he'll just look at it and drop it, but sometimes he'll put it under his arm and walk away without a word. What's he up to?"

"I haven't the slightest idea. Do you want me to speak with him?"

Evie waved her off. "No. But I was hoping you might indulge me in a bit of a distraction." She held up the wooden box, which Helen had immediately identified from their many afternoons.

Helen smiled. "Of course. Come inside." She stepped to one side to let Evie inside before lowering the tent flap. Once they were alone, Evie undid the buttons of her blouse and slid it off her shoulders. She wore a lightweight chemise underneath, far too revealing for the men working on the dig but perfectly fine in Helen's private room. Helen, grateful for the opportunity, also took off her blouse so she could also be relatively comfortable in her sleeveless undershirt.

Helen cleared off her desk while Evie undid the clasps and catches of the case and opened the checker board. The brown and white playing pieces were carved from wood, thick little discs that were smooth to the touch. Evie held one in each hand, and Helen chose by tapping the back of her hand with one finger.

Evie set up the board and launched into her regular spiel. "Thanks again. I know you'd prefer chess, but I never really got the hang of it, to be honest."

"It's quite all right. A game of chess can be relaxing. God knows we can use that." Helen was watching Evie carefully as she pondered her next move before sliding a piece into a new square. "How are you really doing? With your father's recent passing..."

"Oh, I don't know." Evie's façade finally crumbled and she pressed her fingers to her mouth, glancing toward the tent flap. "Father was never in very good health. We were always concerned he would die behind the wheel of an automobile. In a way, it's a bit of a relief that he died in a hotel room. At least he was comfortable." She met Helen's gaze again. "Thank you for your concern, but it was something... something I've known was a possibility for quite some time. The shock is that it has finally happened."

"If you wish to talk, you need only ask." Helen placed her piece on the board, jumping one of Evie's. She picked up the small brown disc and held it between her fingers, touching the smooth surface as her mind thought back to Nikola and his plate collection. What was his scheme this time? She imagined the piece larger, dish-sized, and seemed to recall an invention Nikola had once mentioned. Something to do with discs...

"Your move, Hel."

"Right." Helen looked down at the board and contemplated her next move. She hoped Nikola wasn't planning to do something to 'expose' Howard Carter. Helen believed that he wasn't an Abnormal, although it was quite peculiar the way he had simply pointed and discovered what everyone had spent so much time searching for.

Evie chuckled. "Maybe it's good we're not playing chess, if you can't focus on this."

"I'm sorry, Evelyn." She wet her lips and made another move. "May I ask you a question?" Evie nodded as she considered the board. "The day Carter found the tomb, he knew where to dig because a water carrier tripped over something. You and your father were with him when he suddenly took off and began digging. What made him so certain it was worth investigating?"

"We're in the Valley of the Kings. Not a lot of rocks or roots to trip over, right? If something is sticking out of the sand here, there's a better than good chance it was put there by man."

"Hm. It just seems odd. Convenient, even, that it happened now. This was Howard Carter's final opportunity to make the discovery."

Evie winked. "Ever lost your purse? Always in the last place you look."

Helen was watching Evie carefully. She got the same feeling Nikola must have had in Carter's tent the night before. "You know something. Don't you?"

Evie looked at Helen with innocence. "I don't know what you mean, Helen. I know something about what?"

The front flap of the tent swept open so suddenly that Helen was certain a gust of wind must have caught it. She rose from her chair to secure it better as Nikola blustered into the tent, the bridge of his nose bright red from exposure to the sun. He took a breath to speak, then released it when he noticed Helen's state of undress and her guest's similar state. He looked at them both and then straightened.

Evie raised an eyebrow to Helen as she shrugged back into her blouse. "See what I mean about knocking?"

"I'm not interrupting, am I?" It was barely a question; whatever he had to say, he was certain it would be more important than anything Helen and her friend were doing.

"Evelyn tells me you've taken up dishwashing duties for the expedition." Helen picked up her blouse and put it on with her back to Nikola. "Why are you gathering dishes?"

"Not dishes. Plates. I was thinking about what you mentioned last night, and I believe there is a way to... solve our little curse problem."

Evie said, "With flatware?"

Nikola didn't look at her. "Must she be here?"

Helen finished buttoning her blouse and turned to face him. "She's in as much danger as anyone else. She entered the tomb with Carter and her father, so she has a right to know what's happening."

"She's also still in the room," Evie said as she stood up. She looked between Helen and Nikola, waiting for an explanation. "You know how to stop the curse that killed my father?"

Nikola started to speak, but then narrowed his eyes and held up a finger. "With a caveat."

"Naturally."

He reached into the pocket of his shirt and withdrew a much-folded piece of paper. He spread it out on the desk, tactlessly disturbing their checkers game. Helen stepped forward and looked at a hastily-drawn schematic for some sort of turbine.

"I patented this in 1913. The Tesla turbine." He smiled proudly. "It's bladeless, and it uses discs to direct the energy of fluids, be they water or..."

"Wind." Helen looked closer. If they could somehow set up this turbine in the path of the wind elemental, it would be inexorably drawn inside. It would be drawn along the curvature of the interior discs, and would only be able to escape through a nozzle built into the side. That would enable them to ensnare the elemental and then trap it wherever they wished. "Nikola, this is brilliant."

Evie had an inversed view of the turbine schematic. "If you say so."

Helen looked up, but it was Nikola who explained. "We believe this so-called curse is caused by a creature. Intelligent, but not clever. It's called a wind elemental. It was entombed with Tutankhamen in order to protect him from grave robbers, and I fear we've incurred its wrath."

"Actually, I was thinking about that as well. We only believe it was entombed for protection because of the hieroglyphs. But what if that wasn't the case? Why would a wind elemental choose to be buried for so long?" She shrugged. "It wouldn't. It doesn't make any sense for a creature which lives on air currents to agree to be locked inside a small, dark, hermetically sealed room. I believe the ancient Egyptians trapped it there, whether they intended to or not. Perhaps they were aware of _something_ and simply sealed the tomb before it could escape. Then they established the myth of an unseen protector, a curse, in order to dissuade anyone from desecrating their king's final rest."

Nikola furrowed his brow. "But the wind elemental is acting as protector. It's taking vengeance on those who have broken into the tomb."

Helen pressed her lips together as she thought of an analogy. "Imagine it was you. You're deaf, blind and dumb." Nikola started to speak, but Helen carried on. "You find yourself in a small, dark room - either by design or accident - and before you can leave, you're sealed inside. Imprisoned in a dark, quiet room for countless ages. Then, one day, the door opens. What do you do?"

Nikola didn't hesitate. "I would kill the son of a whore that trapped me in there."

"Right. The wind elemental has no sense that three thousand years has gone by. It doesn't realize that whoever sealed it in is long dead. To its logic, whoever closed the door is the one who opened it. So its actions are a response to being imprisoned against its will for so long."

Evie cleared her throat and broke their two-person conversation. "This turbine thing. You can use it to catch the... wind elemental? To catch that, and then trap it somewhere else."

Helen nodded. "That will be the problem. I would hate to trap it after it just got free. The elemental is only reacting to what was done to it. If there was some way to reason with it..." She shook her head at the futility of that option.

"That's all well and good, but... how will you even get it?"

Nikola sighed. "And that would be the caveat. Yes, the turbine will draw the wind elemental in. And yes, we can then use the turbine to place the elemental in whatever container we deem appropriate once it has been captured. But the fact remains--"

"We have to find the elemental." Helen sighed and looked outside. The sand was blowing on the dunes, lifting in swirls and waves.

"Unless you have a way of turning this desert into a vacuum - which I wouldn't recommend - there's no way to tell if we've captured the elemental or just a random gust of wind."

Evie had sat back down, looking at her hands before she spoke. "There might be a way."

Helen looked at her. "It _was_ you. Wasn't it?"

Nikola looked between the two women. "I believe I missed a step. What was her?"

"She discovered Tut's tomb."

Evie looked up quickly. "No. That was Howard Carter. I just... gave him a general area in which to search. I knew there was something northeast of where I was standing, so I sent a water carrier to fetch me a drink, making sure he went that way. Then I told Howard that I felt something in the air. I told him that day was going to be a very special day for him. When the water carrier tripped, Howard took it as kismet. He believes I'm a touch psychic, but nothing more."

Helen put the rest of the pieces together. "You did it because you wanted Carter to win. He's been working for your father for so long, so much of his work interrupted by the war... and your father threatened to cease funding these digs. So you used your gift to point him in the right direction."

"A few maps here and there, left out on a desk. I mentioned a few times that the Valley of the Kings couldn't possibly have been entirely excavated to plant the idea that perhaps he could look here. All of the connections were made by Howard Carter. I won't take away his accomplishment." She crossed her arms over her chest. "The worst I did was the move with the water carrier, and a mention of Ramses V that may have caused Carter to focus his search in this area."

Nikola raised an eyebrow. "It's brilliant, in its way. Almost Machiavellian. Why didn't you just find it yourself?"

Evie laughed. "An untrained girl walking into a valley in Egypt and finding King Tutankhamen's final resting place? No. And even if I did, even if people believed me, it would be a false victory. I would receive adoration I hadn't earned and didn't deserve. Howard Carter has worked hard his entire life, the past ten years of that life dedicated to my father. If anyone has earned a place in history, it's him."

"Very noble," Helen said, sounding impressed.

"Yes. Quite noble." Nikola was less than impressed.

Helen ignored his disapproval. "Do you believe you could find the wind elemental?"

"It's finding wind inside of wind," Evie said. "I've never done anything like that before. But if Mr. Tesla builds the means to trap it, I would certainly do everything in my power to make it work."

Nikola smiled. "It almost sounds as if we have a plan to fight wind. Helen, I leave it to you to find a way to entrap the elemental once Lady Evelyn and I have done our parts."

Helen nodded. Nikola gathered his schematic and left to begin putting together his turbine, and Helen sat down and covered Evie's hand with her own. "Don't worry. When the time comes, I'll help you with your part."

Evie nodded and closed her eyes. "I don't want you to think I'm a freak."

Helen laughed. "Oh, Evie. If you only knew..."

#

While the business of excavation continued unabated, Helen and Nikola joined forces with Evie and Howard Carter to find a trap for their elemental. James had suggested a large glass container, with as many curves and angles they could manage in order to give the elemental room to maneuver. Helen and Evie decided to try their luck in a Luxor marketplace, hoping there would be something that sufficed as a temporary container.

As they walked, they munched on local delicacies to make up for missing supper. Evie grew quiet on the trip to town, and Helen wasn't going to pry. The last time Evie had been here, it had been to speak with the police about her father's murder. It had been much too long since Helen had been in a civilized environment. Even the wide streets felt claustrophobic with buildings stretching up on either side, so she tried to keep the Nile in view as much as possible.

"Do you work with them often?" Evie finally asked, her voice so quiet Helen almost didn't hear it over the bustle of the crowd. Helen turned to face her and asked if she would repeat what she said. "Elementals and... strange things."

"We call them Abnormals," Helen corrected, "and yes. They're my life work. It's why I was here in the first place. I was concerned about the possibility that an elemental may be trapped within the tomb with Tutankhamen, so I made my presence here possible."

Evie smiled sadly. "My father was amused by you. A headstrong woman forcing her way onto this expedition by pulling a series of strings. He was intrigued to meet the woman who knew such powerful men. Before he died, he told me that he realized your secret. You had earned the respect of every man who worked to get you on this expedition. Your name was revered among them. At the end, he was honored to be working with you."

Helen was touched. She hadn't thought Lord Carnarvon had even paid attention to her. "He was a great man. I was honored to know him."

They continued on in silence until Evie spoke again. "He didn't know. Nobody knew. I let them believe I simply have a knack for finding lost objects. A money clip or a lost set of keys. There were times I saw my father getting angrier and angrier over a lost pair of spectacles when I knew they were in the breast pocket of a different coat. I had to remain quiet because there was no way I could have known where they were."

"Abnormal is just a designation. It's not meant to be disparaging."

"I understand. But surely you understand that being a female is sometimes enough of a stumbling block to being respected."

Helen acknowledged that with a nod of her head. "I've dedicated my life to helping those like you. The Sanctuary could help you learn to harness your ability."

"I may take you up on that. Providing we escape the curse, that is."

Helen smiled. "Of course." She picked up a glass container with a series of handles that would act as tunnels and passageways for the wind elemental. She decided it was too small and put it back.

"What will you do if we're able to capture the elemental?"

"I haven't quite figured that part out yet. Perhaps I should leave it to you. After all, it was responsible for your father's death."

Evie considered the statement for a long moment. Finally she shook her head. "I think you're right. It was imprisoned and frightened. It believed it was lashing out at the people who locked it in that tomb so long ago. I don't wish to cause it further harm."

"Then we shall do everything in our power to ensure its safety once the threat has been eliminated." Her eye caught on something offered by a nearby merchant. She guided Evie to the table by her elbow and they looked at the sea of blown-glass perfume bottles. The tallest ones were over twelve inches in length, with wide leaves imitating a candle's flame at the top. Helen picked up a medium height bottle with a series of rings at the neck and two circular tubes underneath that. The actual perfume was held in a wide, flat base shaped like an egg.

"What do you think?"

Evie ran her fingers over the many curves and bends of the tub. She smiled. "I think it will be magnificent."

#

When Helen and Evie returned to the site, they found it crowded with dozens of people sweltering under the early evening sun. Nikola had told Howard Carter to recall everyone from the expedition to the site, bringing everybody who might have been targeted by the elemental into one place. The sky at the horizon was mixed red and orange, spreading to purple farther into the desert. Nikola hadn't yet activated the electric lights, so all the shadows seemed to blend together.

Helen parked with the other cars at the edge of the site, and Nikola hurried across the expanse of sand to meet them. He had changed into an Oxford shirt and waistcoat, his hair sticking straight up from repeated rakings with his fingers. He looked irritated and hot, his cheeks flaking with sunburn. "It's about time." He wrinkled his nose when he got within a few feet, backing up a few steps before covering his nose. "What in God's name is that stench?"

"We _are_ still women, Nikola. We weren't simply going to waste all that lovely perfume. We think it smells lovely." She climbed from the seat and handed him the perfume bottle. "Evie and I believe this should work well for our purposes."

He examined it carefully and slowly nodded. "It's certainly better than anything we have here. The turbine has been tested. I'll attach a hose to connect the nozzle to this container and then the elemental will be trapped. Assuming we can capture it at all." He looked at Evie, but Helen ignored his doubts.

"Is everyone here?" Helen led them back to where the people had been gathered. Howard Carter wiped the sand from his glasses as he ascended the dune to meet them.

"Everyone we could still find," Carter said. "A few people who have worked as messengers and water carriers were out of contact. That could mean anything, really. They could simply have already moved on to another job." He didn't look convinced of that, however, and glanced toward the horizon. "I've warned everyone that there might be an, ah... an odd spectacle this evening."

"Thank you, Howard. Nikola?"

"Ready whenever you are."

Helen stepped forward to the edge of the pit they had carved out around the entrance to Tut's tomb. "If I might have everyone's attention, please. My name is Helen Magnus. There's been discussion of a curse afflicting the people working on this dig. With any luck, what we're doing tonight will stop anyone else from being hurt. We ask for your cooperation and your patience. If anyone sees anything unusual, gusts of wind that appear to be acting... oddly... please let us know immediately. If we give you the warning to get to shelter, please enter the antechamber of the tomb and block the door until the wind dies down. Thank you very much."

Her words were translated for the benefit of those who didn't speak English. She watched as Nikola connected the turbine to the now-empty perfume bottle and he nodded that he was ready. Helen went to Evie and put her hands on the other woman's shoulders. Evie was only twenty-one, such a delicate age to be entrusted with such an important job. Helen could feel her trembling.

"It will be all right, Evie. If this fails, we'll simply find another way, all right?"

Evie nodded. "I'm frightened."

Helen smiled. "It's all right." She bent down and lightly kissed Evie's lips, a sign of faith.

Evie closed her eyes and took a steadying breath. "Okay. I'm ready."

"Good girl." She looked at Nikola and Howard Carter and then focused on Evie. "I want you to keep your eyes closed, Evelyn. How do you usually find objects?"

Evie licked her lips and tilted her head to one side. "I picture the space in my mind. Then I think about what I want to find, and it shows up on the... the map."

"Okay. I want you to picture the Valley of the Kings. Do you have the image in your mind? The tall canyons on either side, the long line of tombs hidden for so long in the sand?" Evie's acknowledgement was just barely a word, lost on the wind. "I want you to look above the ground, Evie. Imagine the air as water, blowing currents across the sand. Do you see it? Gentle waves, an entire sea of them all around us."

"I see it."

"Look for something that's different, Evelyn. An anomaly. There's something in the ocean that doesn't belong there. Do you see it?" Evie furrowed her brow as she concentrated. "It could just be a darker shape among the waves, hiding in the currents. It could be disguising itself by--"

"I see it!" Evie's eyebrows shot up, but she kept her eyes firmly closed. "It's south of here, but m-moving quickly toward us. Southwest... and moving quickly."

Nikola gathered his turbine, and Carter helped him move the bottle without breaking it. They moved to higher ground and aimed the makeshift device in the right direction.

Helen kept her voice steady and calm, helping Evelyn to focus on what she needed to do. She stroked Evie's arms through her blouse, keeping her from panicking. "Tell me the shape of it, Evie."

She held up her hands in a roughly oval shape. "It's not as large as I thought. It's the size of a horse. Oh, God, the bottle... the bottle won't hold it."

"Yes it will," Helen assured her softly. "Elementals fill the space they occupy. Trust me, the bottle will be more than enough room for it. Evie, I want you to focus. I want you to tell me when it's near."

"It's in the narrow cavern leading here... coming into the wider clearing. It will be here soon." She was breathless, and she swallowed a lump in her throat.

"You're doing wonderfully, Evie."

Nikola started his turbine and looked toward the southwest. "Helen! Dust devils."

Helen could feel the air pressure in the valley pressing on her, and she pulled Evie close. "Don't be afraid, Evelyn. It's almost over." She looked toward the people gathered in front of the tomb. "Everyone get into the tomb! Don't come out until someone has given the all-clear!"

The people who had gathered moved to the entrance, forming semi-orderly lines to get inside. The turbine whirred noisily as Nikola pressed against the top to keep it from rattling. Carter held the perfume bottle gingerly with both hands.

Evie sagged forward and pressed her face against the shoulder of Helen's blouse. "It's being drawn to the machine... Mr. Tesla, it's working!"

He didn't acknowledge that he'd heard, but Helen knew he had. The discs inside the turbine's glass frame began to spin, slowly at first but quickly picking up speed. She stroked Evie's hair. "Tell me when it's entirely inside the turbine. It's very important that we know when it's trapped, Evie. Too much ordinary wind could--"

"It's in! It's trapped!"

Helen shouted, "Nikola, now!"

Nikola shut off the turbine and flipped a switch. The turbine emptied the captured elemental into the tube, and Carter gasped as the perfume bottle began to tremble in his hand. The wind had died down remarkably, and Carter looked at Helen as the bottle in his hand filled with an invisible creature. "Wh-what if the glass breaks?"

Nikola shrugged, breathless. "Then it will kill one of us. Perhaps all of us, now that we've made it angry."

"Always the optimist, Nikola." Helen kissed the top of Evie's head. "You did marvelous, dear. Simply amazing. Well done."

Nikola took the bottle from Carter and held it up to catch the last rays of the sun. "Now, it begs the question... knowing how it reacts when imprisoned, what do we do with this creature now that we've captured it again?"

Helen looked at Evie. "Any thoughts?"

Evelyn looked at Helen and smiled. "Yes, I believe I have one."

 _One Month Later_ ,  
James squinted into the sun, patted his forehead with a handkerchief, and then turned to walk back to where Helen and Nikola were waiting. He had taken special precautions to protect his device from the sand, ensuring not even the smallest grain could penetrate the protective layer of clothing. Unfortunately, this resulted in a quite uncomfortable sweat lodge effect in the Arizona heat.

James looked at Helen and softened the coming criticism with a smile. "You do realize this plan is absolutely mad. You're basing it entirely on the premise that an elemental, which has no true cognitive process, will act rationally. And you're risking all of our lives in the process."

"Some things extend beyond the rational, James. And besides, Evelyn is the only one who is truly in danger, and this was entirely her idea. And it was a lovely opportunity for the three of us to visit America."

Nikola was ignoring them until that point. "Having spent a lot of time here in the past few decades, I can tell you without hesitation that you are not missing much."

Helen rolled her eyes at him. "We're standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon, a wonder of the modern world."

"It is literally a crack in the ground. What criteria were used to name these so-called modern wonders? Perhaps the next can be a particularly large cloud drifting past in the shape of a rabbit."

Helen looked at James and sighed. James simply smiled and looked at his pocket watch. "I would have thought she'd be back by now."

"She is." Helen pointed to the woman approaching from the trail, her clothing covered with blown sand and dirt. She wore sunglasses and a hat strapped down to keep it from blowing away, and she waved as Helen and the men approached her. "Well, you're alive. I take it that's a good sign."

Evie laughed. "I spoke to it the entire way down. I told it that I was the daughter of the man it killed, and that I was harboring no ill will. I didn't want it locked in a cage. I was sad it had been trapped for so long, so I brought it here to let it go free. I must admit, I was a little concerned when I first breached the container. But the elemental didn't harm me before it left."

"It was a brilliant idea, I must say," James said. "Even if it was simply picking up on her emotional state and sensed that she meant it no harm, it's amazing. Negotiating with a wind elemental. Now I've heard everything."

Nikola scoffed. "Let's just hope it stays in the confines of this canyon. Who knows what havoc it could wreak in a large city?"

Evie smiled. "It will remain here. It's home. Helen, you said an elemental will spread out to fill a space?" Helen nodded. "As soon as it was free, I located it again like you showed me. With the currents in the water. It was really thin. Almost invisible. It had spread out all over everything, like it was trying to ride all the wind at once."

James lifted a shoulder. "Three thousand years trapped in one room... I'm not surprised it felt the urge to spread its wings a little."

"Yeah." Evie looked out over the canyon. "So to answer your question, Mr. Tesla... it will stay here because it's home."

Nikola didn't look convinced, but he merely shrugged and started walking back to their vehicle. Evie followed him, and Helen slipped her arm around James' elbow to bring up the rear with him.

"Speaking of home, Helen, it will be marvelous to have you back there. It's been far too long since you graced the hallways with your presence, off digging in the sand. Spending every waking hour with... Nikola."

"Ah, James. If I didn't know better I would say you were jealous."

He smiled at her. "Always, Helen. Always."

Helen laughed and pressed against him. "Thank you, James."

"What did I do? I dug through a few dusty tomes and sent you a telegram. Hardly the stuff of legend."

"You let me run away to the desert. You gave me time to think about what occurred between us in Russia." James looked away and Helen tried not to blush. "I'm not sure I'm ready, James. But when I am, you will be the first to know."

"Not Nikola."

Helen made a noise of disgust and James laughed. The four of them were nearly to the vehicle when a gust of wind rose up from the canyon, blowing past them all. Their clothes whipped around them, and Helen and Evie both reached up to secure their hats as they turned to watch the dust rise up on the current. The wind circled them for a moment before it faded, and Helen could almost see it slip back into the canyon to continue its exploration.

"You're welcome," Evelyn called.

Helen smiled at James and patted his arm. "Come on, James. Take me home."

He smiled. "Gladly."


End file.
